My exhibition at Gallery Forum Box has come about by examining meditation. Studies in meditation have led to a certain understanding of emptiness. An expression of emptiness is: You do not exist, but that does not mean that you don’t exist.
There is no permanent self. The Buddha taught, “Form is empty. Emptiness is form.” It is not easy to understand what emptiness is, we can’t understand it with our conceptual mind. Since nothing exists as we believe, it means, among other things, that nothing is permanent and that everything can change or can be changed.
The meditator wants to reach the wise mind; the one who knows or the one who observes. There are different expressions for this. It is our wise mind that we activate through meditation. This wise mind is closer to us than we think; we all have a wise mind. A meditator accepts everything that comes his/her way. All emotions are experienced, even if it means difficult emotions. Experiencing emotions is the way to growth. In meditation, one strives to understand the mind: Through meditation, one can follow how emotions and thoughts emerge from and disappear into emptiness.
A Dakini is a female messenger of wisdom. The word Dakini also means sky dancer. Dakini Power is a feminine force. It is present in all of us, regardless of gender. Through meditation you can awaken your Dakini power. With Dakini power, you can come into direct contact with Wisdom. This means that you can function as a channel between Wisdom and humans. It is interesting that Dakini power is our feminine strength. If this inherent female power of ours were to be brought to life, the way everything works on our planet would also look very different.
Human beings tend to act according to their ego. It is more acceptable to be in the ego mind than in the wise mind. This means that human’s own desires and reactions influence their choices. The ego views the world dualistically; I want. It leads to an experience of separation from other people and the world. The wise mind is based on what is best for everyone; through the viewpoint of everything being one. These minds are easy to discern, raise awareness of, see and experience in meditation.
I started meditating in 2013. The works in the exhibition tell about my meditative experiences. My path has been magical and wonderfully unimaginable. I have experienced contact with Wisdom and angels and I have grown. I’m learning to live by Shantideva’s book, The Way of the Bodhisattva. And I get to practice Tibetan Buddhist meditation exercises: Shamatha, Vipassana, Mahamudra and Dzogchen. At retreats, I have learned various techniques for self-healing.The works are installations, colour and light animations and moving sculptures. A performance work gives evidence of Dakini power and is shown at set times in the gallery.
Hanne Ivars (1968) graduated with a master’s degree from the Academy of Fine Arts (1998). The human mind, the human spiritual and inner world are Ivar’s main areas of interest. Ivar’s work is about different solution and influence chains. Who or what controls our lives? Ivar’s latest solo exhibitions were shown at gallery Sculptor (2017) and Glo gallery (2014). She has also participated in exhibitions at the Lapinlahti Gallery in Helsinki and the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art in Korea. Pro Artibus collection publication about the work Power & Glory was published in 2018
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